A fifth-year senior safety at USD, Robbie Beathard has occasionally slipped into a practice or meeting late.

His excuse?

He was huddling with university President Mary Lyons.

Sitting in the Torero Stadium press box after a recent practice, Beathard nonchalantly, and devoid of airs, said, “Mary Lyons and I know each other.”

Beathard is a four-year member and past president of the Alcalá Club, a student organization that works with Lyons as an official representative of the university. The Dalai Lama’s USD speaking gig last year? The Alacá Club escorted him around campus.

The NCAA produces haughty commercials espousing its role in helping produce student-athletes. When looking for a fresh subject, the NCAA would be wise to line up Beathard.

There would be a need, though, for more hyphens — student-athlete-lead singer in a band-budding accountant-potential political candidate.

USD (1-2) visits Stetson (1-2) in DeLand, Fla., on Saturday. When the Toreros take the field on defense, Beathard — no relation to former Chargers General Manager Bobby Beathard — will line up at strong safety, where he has started since his junior season.

Academically, he’s a dean’s list regular, boasting a 3.78 GPA, and will graduate with an accounting degree in January. He has signed a contract with PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting heavyweight, and is scheduled to begin work next fall.

“He’d be a guy you might look up some day and he’ll be mayor of San Diego, a congressman, a senator,” Lindsey said. “He is really, really polished.”

Robbie Beathard, a safety for USD's football team, preforms as a lead singer for the band "The Room Downstairs" at a welcome to new students day at USD.
— Earnie Grafton

Robbie Beathard, a safety for USD's football team, preforms as a lead singer for the band "The Room Downstairs" at a welcome to new students day at USD.
— Earnie Grafton

Less than 24 hours after USD opened the season with a loss at Cal Poly on Aug. 31, Beathard was dressed in khaki shorts, white socks, skater shoes and a taut baby-blue USD athletic polo, satisfying his musical bent.

Beathard is the lead vocalist for The Room Downstairs, which was performing at the Student Life Pavilion as part of a welcome weekend for incoming freshmen.

The band, composed of Beathard and four former San Diego State students, has been playing for 2½ years. It performs regularly at Pacific Beach bars and twice has fronted for acts at the House of Blues.

A La Jolla High product who has never taken a vocal lesson, Beathard describes the group’s music as a fusion of reggae, rock and funk.

“I think the music is what our age likes,” USD backup quarterback Kyle Miller said. “It’s chill, music people like to listen to while hanging out or if you want to dance, you dance.”

Robbie Beathard, a safety for USD's football team, preforms as a lead singer for the band "The Room Downstairs" at a welcome to new students day at USD.
— Earnie Grafton

Robbie Beathard, a safety for USD's football team, preforms as a lead singer for the band "The Room Downstairs" at a welcome to new students day at USD.
— Earnie Grafton

“He’ll cover a song, but it doesn’t sound like the song,” said John Loggins, 40, USD’s associate director for community service learning. “They’re songs people know but they play them in a way that’s uniquely theirs. It’s a fun thing. You feel connected to the music.”

The Room Downstairs’ drummer, Max Eckstein, is amazed that Beathard can juggle so many plates without them crashing on the floor.

“He doesn’t sleep,” Eckstein said. “I’m pretty sure he’s a robot on the inside. I haven’t cut his arms because I know his mom would be (mad), but I know he’s a robot.”

Beathard, the third-leading tackler on the team with 19, said football has impacted his life more than academics, more than music, more than anything outside of faith and family.

“Football constantly places you in uncomfortable situations,” he said. “Lifting weights, running in the heat, collisions, dealing with failure, the mental preparation. I know what it’s like to have that uncomfortable feeling in your gut and working through that.”

In November, Beathard will turn 23. He has played football since he was 12. By a vote of teammates, he’s the team’s lone captain. Come late this fall, he will almost certainly run his arms through the shoulder pad straps and snap a helmet tight for the last time in his life.

“Transforming into something else is a scary, scary thought,” he said. “But I’ll have to deal with it, I guess.”

The man can jam

Robbie Beathard's three favorite musical groups

Sublime

Reel Big Fish

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Robbie Beathard, a safety for USD's football team, preforms as a lead singer for the band "The Room Downstairs" at a welcome to new students day at USD.
— Earnie Grafton

Robbie Beathard, a safety for USD's football team, preforms as a lead singer for the band "The Room Downstairs" at a welcome to new students day at USD.
— Earnie Grafton